


A Graceless Descent

by LadyStardust97



Category: Devilman (Anime & Manga)
Genre: AU, Animal Death, Body Horror, M/M, Slice of Life, considering my writing style i mean., mostly just lots of dialogue, sort of slow burn?
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-03-27
Updated: 2018-03-27
Packaged: 2019-04-13 18:29:50
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 18
Words: 7,086
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14118330
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/LadyStardust97/pseuds/LadyStardust97
Summary: Akira Fudo has two problems.One of them is that he's possessed by a demon, and it's been really messing up his sleeping schedule.The other is the angel sent by God to kill said demon.





	1. Chapter 1

Akira Fudo has two problems.

One of them is that he's possessed by a demon, and it's been really messing up his sleeping schedule.

The other is standing in front of him at the open front door, nearly blinding him with a brilliant flowing light.

  
" Can I help you with something?" he asks, trying to be polite as possible.

  
The man (?) at the door doesn't really show any emotion, or make any attempt to respond at first. It's sort of hard to tell because he's wearing a stark white faceless mask. There are also weird crystal looking things floating behind him that don't look very... real.

  
Akira just sort of stares. He's hoping that whoever this is will be gone by the time the Makimuras get home from church.

  
" I have come to kill the demon Amon," the visitor announces at last. His voice is flat and vaguely echoes in a way it shouldn't.

  
Ohhhhhhh. Maybe he was an angel? He didn't really look like the ones Akira had seen in the religious art Noel kept around. But that would explain the wanting to kill Amon problem.

  
Akira can hear Amon's voice in his ear-

  
" Turn it away. If it doesn't step foot in the house, it can't harm you," the demon says.

  
" Well, uh, he's not available right now," Akira says, and goes to close the door. The angel is giving him chills, in a weird way. There's something off about him, in that he looks, for lack of better phrasing, too perfect.

* * *

  
Akira goes back upstairs and settles in to work on his English homework, but Amon is buzzing around in his head with thoughts about the angel.

  
" Has he left yet?"

  
" I don't know."

  
" Check out the window."

  
" What if he sees me- us- looking?"

  
" He can't come inside."

  
" It's still a little creepy."

  
" Just look."

  
He sighs, sets his pencil back down, and gets up to look out the window facing the front of the house. Just as Amon was suspecting, the angel is still standing in front of the door.

After a moment of Akira watching him, his face suddenly snaps up to look at the window.

  
It's really, really eerie to be seen by something without eyes, and he ducks down.

  
" What should we do? Could we just ask him to leave? Why is he looking for you specifically?"

  
" I don't know," Amon says after a moment.

  
Akira checks the clock. Church gets out at seven thirty, and it's five. They've got like two hours to figure this out, at least.

  
Amon is itching to fight, but Akira doesn't really think that would go over well for him. They had gotten into some little skirmishes with other demons before, but Akira feels as though there's a whole world of difference between that and an actual literal angel.  
Well, just politely asking him to leave wouldn't do any harm.

  
" That's a horrible idea," Amon chides.

  
" Gotta try," Akira replies.

  
He taps down the stairs, tries not to freak out while he's going to open the door. Deep breath.

  
He opens it.

  
" Are you going to let me in now?" the angel asks.

  
" No. And also. Could you please leave. Like, could you please not be around the house," Akira requests, feeling tense.

  
There is another moment of silence, where he can feel the angel's eyes judging him.

  
And then suddenly the weird looking crystal things flap like wings and the angel has taken off into the sky.

  
Huh.

  
It really had been that easy.


	2. Chapter 2

Next problem.

  
The angel is following him to school.

  
Miki can't see him, and Miko can't either, and so they're both sort of making fun of him for being nervous, thinking it has something to do with the literature test.

  
The angel is hovering behind them a couple meters, never completely out of sight, but not close either. Amon's nervous about it, too.

That technically makes Akira double nervous.

He's still working out the whole "two personalities in one body" thing.

  
Had the angel noticed yet that Amon was possessing Akira? He hadn't seemed to have known when he visited the house the day before.

  
There really wasn't anything he could do about it, and at least no one else could see the angel but him.

  
" Well, we've got track, so see you later, okay, Akira?" Miki says, smiling, as they part ways at the gate of the school.

  
" Yeah," Akira says back, trying not to focus on the fact that the angel is getting closer.

  
" Akira Fudo," the angel addresses him, and Akira swallows nervously because his throat feels dry. This thing is probably going to try to kill him in front of his school.

  
" Yes?" he answers.

  
" Do you feel no guilt for harboring something unclean inside a house of God?" the angel asks, his voice stiff.

  
Amon is jabbering hurriedly about, quick, switch out with me now, let's fight him now.

  
" He just needed a place to stay," Akira says.

  
A quiet moment.

  
" Are you going to kill me?" Akira asks.

  
A quiet moment.

  
" Has the demon possessed you?" the angel asks back.

  
Akira really hopes that he doesn't look like he's talking to himself, because that wouldn't really help his social reputation.

  
" Yes," he admits.

  
" ... I see," the angel says. " This is quite problematic."

  
Well, he hasn't tried to kill him yet, so maybe just admitting to being possessed was going to work out in their favour?

  
The angel takes a sudden, jerky step forward.

  
" Akira Fudo. I am forbidden to bring harm to human beings. I will find a way to separate the demon from your body before I dispose of it. For now, goodbye."

  
And then with a gust of air, he's flying away. A couple of people look over, like they can't figure out where the sudden wind came from.

  
" Well, that bought us some time," Amon snarks. " At least I know separating us isn't gonna be easy."

  
And so Akira is late to his first class.


	3. Chapter 3

The angel's name is Lucifer, and he is the Bringer of Light assigned to hunt down and destroy the most powerful demons in the earthly realm, as penance for a crime he once committed against God.

  
He is talking about all this in his monotone voice while Akira is trying to do his math homework with Miki, who obviously doesn't take any notice. It's really distracting and it doesn't help that Amon is trying to tell Akira to make Lucifer shut the fuck up too. So that's three people talking to him and they're all acting like they're the only one.

  
" Ah, Akira, you did this step twice," Miki points out. He does a double-take, and scribbles it out.

  
" Sorry, I was sort of distracted," he apologizes.

  
" Is something wrong? You've been out of it the past couple days," she remarks, concerned. " Are those delinquent boys messing with you again? I'll teach them a lesson-!"

  
" No, it's nothing like that," Akira interrupts her as she holds up a fist. Her and Miko both have violent tendencies.

  
She gives him an unconvinced look.

  
" You know you're a part of the Makimura family now, right? You can tell me anything," she says.

  
" Yet you don't tell her of your possession?" the angel passively comments from where he's standing stiffly by the door frame. Akira ignores him.

  
" That stupid thing is so smug. Can't you just kick him out?" Amon asks, standoffish. Akira ignores him too.

  
" I know," Akira says back sheepishly. He doesn't want to say that he doesn't really feel like a part of the family, because it would probably just concern her more. There isn't really a way for him to explain his troubles, either, even if he wanted to.

  
They finish the homework together.

  
" I'll go see if Mom's started on dinner yet," Miki says, and she stands up (short shorts) and pads out of the room.

  
" The Makimuras are not your biological family. Why do you live with them?" the angel- Lucifer- asks.

  
Akira doesn't answer him.

  
" Are you listening to me?" he asks.

  
" You do understand that I don't have to answer your questions, right?" Akira fires back after a moment. " I could barely finish my homework because you and Amon wouldn't stop talking."

  
Lucifer seems to tense up.

  
" Amon speaks to you inside your own body? How much control does he have over you? Does he make you commit vile and immoral acts? Is he scheming now?" he demands. It's the first time Akira had heard him sound concerned.

  
" Yes, none unless I let him, not really, and at the moment, he's asking me to tell you to please leave," Akira answers each question, leaving out Amon's colorful phrasing (though he agrees with it).

  
" I see. Don't you regret having that inside of you? Do you feel no shame for sullying the body given to you by God?"

  
Akira feels weirdly irked by this line of questioning; he finds himself preferring the more taciturn attitude Lucifer had had before.

  
" Could you leave?" he asks.

  
The angel leaves.

  
Miki walks back in a moment later, smiling.

  
" Hey, Mom said dinner's gonna be ready soon. Wanna come set out plates?" she asks.

  
Akira goes downstairs with her.


	4. Chapter 4

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Warning for animal death; it's not graphic but still.

 

There is a dying cat by the side of the road.

  
Akira stares at it, bile rising up in his throat.

  
" You humans are so soft," Amon says, but he's been with Akira long enough to not say anything ruder than that.

  
Lucifer is walking ahead, but after a moment, he pauses and turns around stiffly.

  
" You're not following your routine," he says.

  
Akira's throat feels dry as he speaks out.

  
" Hey, Lucifer, you're an angel, aren't you?" he asks.

  
Lucifer quirks his head to the side.

  
" I thought this was something we had established since the start. Why are you asking me a rhetorical question?"

  
Akira points at the cat.

  
" You're an angel, so you can perform miracles, can't you? Can't you save it?" he asks, trying to keep his voice from trembling.

  
Lucifer stares at it.

  
" Why would I do that for something so insignificant? Many cats die every day. They are all destined to die, eventually," he inquires, monotone.

  
It stops breathing.

  
There is a long, heavy moment.

  
" Hurry up and go to school," Amon gripes.

  
" Insignificant..." Akira says under his breath.

  
He tears himself away from the view, turns on his heel, strides angrily towards the school. He can hear the angel following him.

  
" Leave me alone," he shouts back at Lucifer.

  
" As you wish. I haven't been getting any useful information on how to purge the demon from your body through this surveillance, so perhaps I need time away to mull over my findings," Lucifer says.

  
He doesn't seem to understand why at all.

  
Either way, it's a bitter relief to have a day without him constantly hovering around and occasionally rambling about the greatness of Heaven and how demons are nothing but rancid corruption.

  
" Angels completely lack empathy," Amon says. " You shouldn't expect that thing to understand stuff like that."

  
" Oh, and you do?" Akira asks, still a bit angry, as he walks through the school gate. Most everyone is inside. It's really close to when class starts.

  
" I do not feel empathy, I simply understand it, as I have spent so much time with you," Amon replies mildly. " And I have experienced the loss of companions in combat."

  
... Well, that was a fair enough answer.

  
Akira slides into his chair just before the teacher arrives.


	5. Chapter 5

Things seem a lot nicer without Lucifer constantly hanging around, trying to figure out how to kill half of him.

  
It's still a little weird to consider Amon half of him, but really, in comparison to Lucifer, Amon is downright friendly. He never thought he'd end up having such a positive opinion of him.

  
It wasn't like he had really had a choice, when he had let Amon into his body.

  
_" You're dying, aren't you?"_

  
He had whispered in his ear.

  
He had looked like he was made of mist, then, standing tall and with wings like a bat.

  
_" Let's make a deal."_

  
It was a pretty good bargain, at least. It worked out for both of them.

  
And straight of the hospital, his childhood friend's family had graciously let him into their house (not like he had any real family left).

  
It was difficult to adjust to at first, but once he figured out how to deal with Amon's personality and kept a couple other demons from snooping around the town, it had settled down into his life as just another fact. If anything ever really needed to be done, Akira could let Amon take control for a while (not too long, though).

  
Sun rises, sun sets, Amon says he wants to watch the same action movie for the thirtieth time in a row.

  
He actually really didn't want Amon gone. In a weird and probably psychologically disturbed way, Akira had begun to consider him a friend. So he was tolerating the angel being around, but had privately begun to think of him as a enemy.

  
It was a simpler a matter of, Lucifer was most probably stronger than Amon, and therefore should not be fucked with if at all possible.

  
... Still, there was something eerie about his absence. Even though it was nice.

  
It sort of made Akira wonder if he was planning something.

  
Yeah, it sort of set him on edge.

  
" Ah," he winces, pulls back. He had been helping Miki cut vegetables for dinner, since her parents are going to be out late. The church is planning some sort of event.

  
" Jeez, Akira, pay more attention to what you're doing!" she chides. " Go get a bandaid, okay? And rinse it off!"

  
He nods, sets down the knife.

  
" Right. I'll be right back," he says, headed to go dig in the medicine cabinet in the bathroom.

  
" Oh! Miko is coming over for dinner tonight, since Mom and Dad are out," she says suddenly

.   
Akira pauses by the doorframe for a moment.

  
" Will we have enough?"

  
" Yeah, of course! We'd have enough for everybody if you brought a friend home for once!" she teases. It's in good faith, at least.

  
A friend.


	6. Chapter 6

Lucifer comes back on Friday.

  
" I could come to no meaningful conclusions," he says stiffly, and then stands in the corner of his room watching him do homework for like at least an hour.

  
" Do you have to be like that?" Akira asks as he turns a page in his math studybook.

  
" Like what?"

  
" Creepy. Invisible to everybody but me. Just lurking around," he clarifies. He's really not used to being so acerbic, but something about Lucifer brings it out of him. Maybe it's something to do with how much Amon hates him.

  
" This form would disturb those around you unused to dealing with the supernatural," Lucifer answers stiffly. Akira agrees with that sentiment; he's used to spooky stuff now, but Lucifer's mask still unsettles him.

  
" Can't you use a different one, then?" he asks. He's on problem thirty-seven in his math work.

  
" Yes. I suppose so," the angel concedes after a moment.

  
What was up with him and all these incredibly simple solutions that had just never occurred to him before?

  
Lucifer reaches up and takes off his mask in a slow, fluid motion, and it's like all of his supernatural accoutrements melt away with it. He has a fair, smooth face, and bright blue eyes.

  
Suddenly he's just another teenager, standing in all white clothes in Akira's room.

  
" Is this better, Akira?" he asks. His voice no longer weirdly echoes. It's weird to see his lips move when he speaks.

  
Akira just sort of stares at him.

  
" Knock it off," Amon says.

  
" Significant improvement," Akira says after a moment, and returns to his math.

  
Suddenly, Lucifer sits across from him.

  
" What are you doing?" Akira asks, taken aback.

  
" You told me not to lurk," Lucifer replies.

  
" That's Miki's spot, though," Akira protests.

  
" She's not here. I don't see why it matters."  
Akira doesn't say anything back.

  
" What's the point of all these beginner mathematics? You go and listen to older humans lecture to you about insignificant things for most of the day, almost every day. You could be doing other things," Lucifer observes dryly, looking down at Akira's notes and homework.

  
" Is there anything that's actually significant to you?" Akira questions back.

  
" My mission to destroy Amon, of course," Lucifer replies, fast. " And my devotion to righteousness."

  
" If you really want to kill Amon that bad, then why-"

  
The door opens.

  
" Oh! Akira! I didn't know you had a friend over! I didn't see him come in," Miki says, surprised.

  
" Not exactly a friend," Akira begins to say, but then he stops himself because he doesn't actually really know what Lucifer is, besides a vague threat.

  
" Nice to meet you. My name is Ryo Asuka," Lucifer introduces himself stiffly, sitting up straight.

  
Miki smiles at him, and goes to leave the room.

  
" I'm Miki Makimura! Thanks for keeping Akira company. I'll come back later, okay?" she says as she closes the door back.

  
She had had her homework in hand; intending to study together.

  
It's really weird.

  
" Ryo Asuka?" Akira asks, incredulous.

  
" I thought that my real name would be too Western," Lucifer says, a fair justification. Though he does have blonde hair and blue eyes.

  
Akira vaguely wants to continue the line of questioning he had been about to pursue before Miki's intrusion, but finds he has lost the will to.

  
It all feels so frustrating.


	7. Chapter 7

Amon answers the door, to Ryo Asuka, who is Lucifer.

  
" Akira's not in right now," he says, leaning against the door frame.

  
Lucifer's brow furrows. It's the first time Amon has ever seen any emotion on the thin imitation face the angel uses to look human.

  
" So the one I'm talking to is Amon?" he asks.

  
" That's a stupid fucking question," Amon replies, and goes to slam the door in Lucifer's face.

  
The angel puts a hand up to stop it.

  
" I'm not going to kill you while you're in that body, even if you're controlling it," he says, straining to keep it open.

  
" Bullshit. You could kill me right now and it would be in accordance with God's will. Now let me get back to my jazzercise," Amon sneers back.

  
" If I did so, Akira Fudo would be killed as well. That is against my wishes," he argues, and then suddenly stops. The door hits him in the face, but Amon opens it back up.

  
" Your wishes?" he asks, incredulous.

  
Lucifer says nothing.

  
" You servants of God don't have the free will to wish for anything.

"  
" Or lie."

Amon lets him in.

  
He goes back to the living room, where he's playing an exercise tape.

  
" What are you playing at, Lucifer?" he asks (jazzy music in the background).

  
" Now that I'm here, I'd like to observe how you use Akira's body," Lucifer replies.

  
Amon doubles over, laughing.

  
" Why are you doing that?" Lucifer asks.

  
" You're fucking stupid," Amon continues to laugh.

  
" I need to know how your minds are tangled together," Lucifer says, tone slightly insistent.

  
" Yeah, well, you're not gonna see anything useful."

  
Lucifer sits on the couch and just watches.


	8. Chapter 8

... His mask won't go back on.

  
... His mask is cracked.

  
He tells Akira these things.

  
" Hmmm, maybe it's because you've been around us so long?" Akira wonders, pencil against his lips.

  
He does not notice the way Lucifer's eyes drift to it, though Amon does.

  
Though Amon says nothing.

  
" Gosh, I hope Amon didn't say anything weird to you the other day, while he was doing his workouts," Akira observes idly.

  
" No. And I gained no useful knowledge on how to purge him from your body, either," Lucifer says, dangerously bordering on a sigh of disappointment.

  
" You know, I would be mad at you if you did that," Akira points out.

  
Lucifer stares straight ahead.

  
" Why would that matter to me? I am only here to complete my mission without loss of an innocent life," he replies.

  
Oh, he's right.

  
" Well, it's nice of you to think I'm innocent," Akira says after a moment.

  
... Their conversations have been sort of weird like that, lately.

  
" Hey, I brought some snacks," Miki says, walking in. She's got a bag of shrimp fries and some sodas.

  
" Nice of you to join us. You don't seem to come in often," Lucifer says.

  
She smiles, sets the snack stuff down the table and flashes a peace sign.

  
" I don't want to get in between you two, since Akira has trouble making friends," she says as she sits down.

  
" Oh?" Lucifer inquires, tone polite.

  
" But, my homework today was way too hard, so I thought I'd ask you two for help!" She puts her homework on the table, and leans across. " Akira said you're really smart, Ryo! Do you know how to do this stuff?"

  
Akira feels sort of embarrassed that Miki told him that he'd said that so directly.

  
" You have been getting help from him recently."

  
Akira wishes Amon wouldn't make remarks like that, even if they are true.

  
" Yes, of course. The work you two do is very easy," Lucifer says.

  
" Thank God!" Miki says, grabbing her pencil case.

  
And so they work on homework for a while, and thankfully Lucifer doesn't say anything too weird.

  
He's actually pretty helpful.

  
He's actually pretty nice to Miki, really.

  
... He seems just a little bit, a small tiny bit, different than he was when they first met, actually.

  
Maybe it's because he's been around us for so long.

  
Amon seems to agree.


	9. Chapter 9

" Ryo, where do you stay at, when you're not here?"

  
A slight pause.

  
" Ah, you referred to me by that human name..."

  
A backpedal.

  
" Sorry. Does it bother you?"

  
" I don't care either way. My name is actually of little importance."

  
" So, I mean, where do you stay?"

  
He thinks about it for a moment.

  
" We servants of God have arrangements made for us," he says after a moment. It's not very specific, but Akira senses that that's probably the best answer he's going to get.

  
" So they've got hidden luxury hotels or something?" Amon asks.

  
" Yeah, I guess," Akira replies.

  
" Is Amon talking to you again? What did he say?" Lucifer asks, leaning forward.

  
" Nothing, really, he just made a joke," Akira says.

  
" It's immoral and inappropriate to make jokes about a servant of God," Lucifer says, voice strict.

  
" Well, you can't really stop demons from being immoral and inappropriate, can you?" Akira points out.

  
" I can stop him by killing him," Lucifer replies.

  
Lull in conversation.

  
" We're always cooped up in the house. Do you want to go somewhere, Ryo?"

  
" ... You did it again."

  
" It's a good name. I sort of like saying it more than the other one."

  
Ryo stands up.

  
" Where should we go, then, if you want to leave the house?"

  
Akira stands up too, and stares at him. His halo, normally hidden, is flickering in and out of view. It looks weirdly feathery, or sludgy, or maybe both. It looks different than how it used to.

  
Akira decides not to mention it.

  
" We could just go to the park, I guess. It's nice out, this time of year. The trees are turning colours."

  
" Turning colors?" Ryo asks, head quirked like it's interesting.

  
" Yeah, every fall, the leaves change color and fall off the trees. Then they grow back after winter. You've seen it before, haven't you?"

  
A speck of sludge falls on the floor.

  
" I suppose I never noticed."

  
" Well, we can go see it now," Akira encourages, as he puts his coat on.

  
" I guess I'll take a nap while you go on your date with everyone's favorite homicidal weirdo," Amon says quite suddenly. It's in a joking tone. Akira feels his face grow hot.

Even though it's a bad joke and not at all what he intended by inviting Ryo out.

  
" Yes, let's," Ryo says.

  
He follows Akira out of the room.


	10. Chapter 10

They've started going to the park together often.

  
It's on the verge of being routine.

  
" Akira, what is this feeling?" Ryo asks him as they walk next to the lake. It's evening, and the light is reflecting off of the water in a particularly beautiful way, golden and sharp with a hazy glow around the edges of the gentle current.

  
Akira stops.

  
" What do you mean?" he asks. He feels oddly apprehensive.

  
" I feel. Like there are things around me... that I haven't noticed before. I wonder. Why I couldn't see... Ah... Ah..." He suddenly doubles over, like he's in pain, and his wings and halo materialize all at once, and he's screaming.

  
Akira doesn't know what to do.

  
Ryo has never acted like this before.

  
" What's wrong-?" he asks, hands hovering above him. " Ryo?"

  
" Is this pain? It hurts. It hurts. It hurts."

  
The crystals look like they're full of something, expanding and pulsing, and they begin to crack, a thin reddish brown fluid streaming out. And then there's some sort of something connecting them to his back, like sinew sewn before his eyes.

  
His halo is like that too.

  
It's all breaking into pieces and something is coming out of it.

  
" What should I do? Ryo? What do you want me to do?" he asks, and asks, and asks again.

  
Amon is not telling him anything, simply hovering there in the back of his mind like a presence. He feels like he needs guidance.

  
There is a burst of light, like a flash, and everything shatters, and there are feathers there now.

  
Real wings.

  
They look ragged and stained and wet, and there are so many pairs of them Akira feels overwhelmed. Ryo is still crying about how much it hurts.

  
... He's never cried before.

  
... He's never expressed pain before.

  
Yes, something has changed about him. 


	11. Chapter 11

" Why am I here?"

  
He asks as he wakes up.

  
He's laying in Akira's bed.

  
Akira is sitting next to him, anxiety written all over his face.

  
" Well, uh, you sort of collapsed, and I don't know where you were staying at, so I just brought you home with me... It was sort of hard to keep everyone else from noticing, though..." He says, looking away, feeling awkward.

  
" From noticing...?" Ryo begins to ask, but his voice trails off. He seems to realize something, and his expression changes.

  
The wings flap a little, and Akira can see his pupils constrict.

  
" What is this? What is this? My body isn't supposed to look like this..." he mutters feverishly, turning this way and that to observe himself, like he's never seen himself before. Fingers ran through feathers - dry now, fluffy and white. His hair is shaggier.

  
" It was pretty scary... You just started screaming..." Akira says, fidgeting a little.

  
Ryo covers his face with his hands.

  
" I had just. I had wanted to say that... the lake was beautiful. That was all," he says.

  
Akira stares at him.

  
" You know... you look more like the angels in Noel's stuff now. With the wings," he says sort of lamely after a moment.

  
Ryo looks up.

  
" They're not supposed to look... organic... like this," he replies.

  
" It's not a bad thing."

  
Ryo swings his legs around to stand up.

  
" Maybe so."

  
He collects himself, and walks past Akira, to the window, and unlatches it.

  
" You've changed him a lot more than you realize, you know," Amon observes. He's seemed milder lately.

  
And Ryo leaves through the open window. The wings work. Akira watches him fly away.

It's strange, somehow.

  
" Do you really think so?" he asks.

  
" You're sort of stupid, Akira." 


	12. Chapter 12

Next time he sees him- a few days- he's made himself up to look human again, just like before.

  
It makes the park feel a little bit like a dream.

  
But his expression changes a little bit, softens, when he sees that Akira has noticed him standing by the school gate as everyone leaves for the day.

  
" Hey, Ryo," he says, walking up to him.

  
" Is Miki walking home with you today?" Ryo asks. He's got his hands in his pockets and has a little bit of a faint smile.

  
Akira doesn't think he's ever seen him smile before.

  
" No, her and Miko have track practice today," he replies.

  
" Man, he's making a weird face," Amon mutters. Akira fights the urge to roll his eyes.

  
" I suppose it's just us today, then," Ryo observes.

  
They walk home together.

  
There's a stiff breeze out, and leaves are skittering across the street. Weeds that have shot up from cracks in the concrete are beginning to turn brown. No other students are walking along their route.

  
A pair of cats run across their path- probably playing, chasing each other. Ryo stops.

  
" Is something wrong?" Akira asks, looking over at him.

  
" I didn't realize they came in so many colors," Ryo says.

  
Another cat meows at them from atop a wall.  
" They all look so different."

  
Akira sort of stares at him for a moment, and the street is quiet.

  
He begins walking again.

  
" Come on, Akira, let's hurry home," he says.

Akira suddenly has a lot of thoughts in his mind, and questions he wants to ask, but none of them quite make it out.

  
" Wish he had had that attitude what, two months ago? Would've kept you from bitching about all sorts of things."

  
Akira ignores what Amon says to him.

  
He gets the key to the house out of his jacket, unlocks the door. Goes inside, takes off his shoes and sets them to the side. Ryo follows suit.

  
" Can you help me with my math again?"

  
" Of course."


	13. Chapter 13

" No luck, he's out today," Amon says when he opens the door.

  
Ryo rolls his eyes, sighs.

  
" I suppose I'll just sit around the living room doing nothing, then," he says as he steps inside and takes off his shoes.

  
" Bold assumption you've made here, thinking I'm going to let inside the house on one of my days," Amon snarks. He doesn't actually intend to throw Ryo out, if only because Akira would surely complain about it later.

  
" Why are the Makimuras gone so often, anyway?" Ryo asks, his eyes gracing over the shelf of family photos in the entrance hall.

  
Amon shrugs.

  
" Church stuff, mostly, and Miki is gone a lot because she's in some sort of sport thing. Track."

  
Ryo picks up a photo of Akira and his parents.

  
" Who are these people?" he asks.

  
" His parents. They're dead," Amon supplies.

  
He sets it back down.

  
" How sad."

  
Amon's eyes narrow.

  
" You've been acting fucked up weird ever since the wing thing," he says.

  
Ryo shrugs.

  
" I guess I feel a little different."

  
They go to the living room and watch a cooking show on the NHK.

  
" How did you even come to possess Akira, Amon?" he asks after a while. It all feels a little lazy.

  
" He was in a car crash, and I needed a body to hide out from you and Michael in," Amon replies. He's taking notes on the cooking show.

  
" Is it really a hiding place if I found you?" Ryo asks.

  
Amon stands up and stretches.

  
" I mean, are you actually ever gonna do anything about it? Come on, let's go try out this recipe. Akira's got me hooked on this cooking bullshit."

  
Ryo looks as though he wants to say something, but he doesn't. Instead he just follows Amon to the kitchen.

  
" He has a talent for declawing threats, doesn't he?"


	14. Chapter 14

" Akira, let's go out to the park again."

  
Akira sets down the plate he's rinsing off.

  
" Will you be okay?" he asks.

  
" Yes. I want to see the lake during the evening, is all."

  
He takes off his apron and folds it up.

  
" Okay."

  
They leave the kitchen.

  
" Noel, me and Ryo are going out on a walk," Akira yells over to the living room.

  
" Be careful, it's getting late," Noel yells back.

They put their shoes and coats on, and leave the house.

  
It's gotten chillier, Akira thinks, and his breath mists up a little bit. He's glad he didn't forget his jacket. They walk close together, elbows hitting every once in a while.

  
There's something vaguely exciting, euphoric, about the scent of autumn and the coldness of the air and the hazy red glow of the sun sinking beneath the horizon.

  
Even though it's near the end of the year, it always feels like a beginning; like something secret and magical that no-one else is privy to is blooming in his hands. And there is something very nice about sharing evenings like that with Ryo.

  
The street lights are all flicking on, the moon is rising in the sky.

  
They walk into the park.

  
Ryo leans over the fence and stares at the water.

  
" The lights make it glow," he says.

  
Akira stands next to him with his hands in his pockets, staring out across the water.

  
" Yeah," he affirms.

  
Ryo sets his head on his chin.

  
" I never realized Earth looked like this before, you know?" he says.

  
" It's pretty," Akira affirms, looking at Ryo's face. Ryo looks oddly content.

  
" ... Yet you look the same as you ever have."  
Akira leans up against the fence too.

  
" That's sort of mean, Ryo," he says.

  
Ryo looks over to him.

  
Expression indecipherable.

  
" I meant it more like... The world has come to resemble you."

  
The waves of the lake are soft, and they lap at the shore. Amon is quiet, and Akira feels as though he has perhaps turned his face away, to leave them alone.

  
But Akira can't think of what he's meant to say or do, and he gets the feeling Ryo doesn't really know, either.

  
" I've become a different person, haven't I?" Ryo asks.

  
The moon is overhead.

  
" I like who you are," Akira answers.

  
" I like who you are," Ryo answers.


	15. Chapter 15

" You look like the kind of guy that'd hang out with Akira, alright."

  
Miko is evaluating Ryo, hands on her hips, eyebrows arched.

  
He smiles at her, a little nervous.

  
" Nice to meet you. Miki is quite fond of talking about you," he says. She immediately looks surprised, and looks over to Miki.

  
" Do you really talk about me that often?" she asks, bashful. Miki smiles at her.

  
" Wouldn't you like to find out?"

  
And as they talk, Ryo steps a little closer to Akira's side.

  
" Remind me why I was invited to this?" he asks.

  
Akira laughs, in a way that's different from how Ryo is used to hearing Amon laugh.

  
" You're our friend now, you know? Of course we'd invite you to one of Miki's track meets."

  
" I see," Ryo replies.

  
Miki stops her banter with Miko for a moment, checks the time.

  
" Oh, Akira, Ryo, you two probably need to go back to Mom and Taro. We're starting soon," she says.

  
Akira nods in affirmation.

  
The stands are crowded, as always, and it takes a moment to get up to where Akiko and Taro are.

  
" Were the girls alright?" Akiko asks.

  
" Yeah, I think we're going to do really well today," Akira says, sitting down. Ryo squeezes in next to him; legs touching. He's warm.

  
Well, being in a big crowd of people at a sporting event was supposed to be a sort of sweaty thing, wasn't it?

  
" So what exactly do-"

  
The gun goes off. The athletes begin running.

  
Ryo is quiet for a moment, though there are people cheering.

  
" They're fast," he says.

  
" Yeah. I could never keep up," Akira comments.

  
" Keep up?"

  
" I used to run track too, last year. I could probably go back to it now, but..." His voice trailed off.

  
" Look, Miki's pulled ahead to the lead!" Akiko said, shaking his arm.

  
And she had.

  
And in another moment, she had won.

  
It all seemed to pass by so fast.

  
When Akira got up to leave, Ryo thought to himself that he would've liked to sit together like that for a bit longer.


	16. Chapter 16

When he closes the door to his room, a familiar face is there.

  
" Lucifer, why have you not slain the demon?" Michael asks.

  
" I am attempting to disentangle it from the human it possesses," he replies.

  
He knows that Michael can sense his corruption.

  
" You should've known long ago that that is unnecessary. Simply kill it while it's in control of the body; God would permit this."

  
Ryo stares at the blank expanse of his brother's face.

  
" He is innocent."

  
Michael walks past him, to leave.

  
" Your body is beginning to rot. You will fall apart if you stay here longer, brother."

  
Ryo does not say it out loud, but he knows.


	17. Chapter 17

When he's walking up to the little house, he sees that the car is gone from the driveway, and he can hear loud music playing from the house.

  
Ah, so it's an Amon day, isn't it.

  
He lets himself in, takes off his shoes, and pads down to the living room.

  
Amon is doing some sort... what was it called... Jazzercise. Jazzercise, radio calisthenics. There's not much of a difference, right?

  
" Hey," Ryo says, waving at him. He rolls his eyes and turns the music up a smidge louder.  
Ryo wonders if he's ever gotten the neighbors to file noise complaints as he sits down on the sofa.

  
Well, it's a given that everyone with good taste doesn't mind a little city pop in the afternoon.

  
" Why do you always have to bother me on my free days?" Amon gripes as he stretches.   
Well, really, it's more like. He's making Akira's body stretch, isn't it?

  
What a weird way to think of it.

  
" It's not like I have any other demons to surveille," Ryo snarks.

  
" I'm gonna tell Akira you came by to check him out," Amon says, like it's some light-hearted tease.

  
He clicks his exercise tape off, and stands in front of the couch, and it sort of makes Ryo think, oh, he's very sweaty.

  
What a weird way to think of it.

  
" I'm not quite sure what you mean, but either way, that's not my intent."

  
Amon rolls his eyes. Akira's eyes.

  
" Both of you are so oblivious it's almost embarrassing," he says.

  
He throws the remote at Ryo and flops on the couch next to him.

  
" Could you put a cooking show on, or something? I'm trying to distract myself so I don't end up feeling sorry for you idiots."

  
... Ryo turns the channel from the VCR to the NHK.


	18. Chapter 18

They were all downstairs, watching a movie together, and someone rang the doorbell.

  
Must've been Ryo. Only Ryo would show up uninvited at seven thirty PM on a Saturday.

  
" I'll get it," Akira says, getting up.

  
" Of course you will," Amon snarks. He's been more lighthearted recently, somehow.

  
Akira restrains himself from rolling his eyes as he taps down the hallway and opens the door.

  
Yes, it's Ryo.

  
... It's strange, how he just looks like an ordinary person when he wants to.

  
Well, not ordinary, in an ordinary sense, because Ryo was probably actually much better looking than the average person, but that wasn't really relevant, and Akira cut that train of thought short because why had he even been thinking that, anyway?

  
" It's movie night," Akira says. " Come on in. You can sit next to me."

  
Ryo comes in, takes off the silly tan coat he's been wearing recently, takes off his shoes.

  
... Ryo seems like he's gotten a little more lighthearted, too.

  
" What are we watching, Akira?" he asks.

  
" It's this romcom that Akiko's been wanting to see, since last movie night was Noel's pick. It's sort of cheesy, but I like fluffy stuff, so it's okay," Akira explains. He ignores Amon complaining about how they should've watched a war drama or something, because they both sort of get that Amon has, at this point, resigned himself to liking romcoms.

  
They don't have romcoms in Hell, after all.

  
" What's a romcom?" Ryo asks him as they go down the hallway.

  
Guess they didn't have romcoms in Heaven either.

  
" Well then, what's the fucking point?" Amon asks surreptitiously. Akira's of half a mind to agree with him.

  
" Oh it's like... A romantic comedy? Like two people falling in love with a bunch of like, jokes? And this one is about some lady trying to get her workaholic friend to loosen up," Akira attempts to explain, a little hurriedly.

  
They turn into the living room.

  
" Hey, come on, kids, you're gonna miss the big scene," Noel calls over to them as they walk in. Akira quickly gets himself back into place, and Ryo squeezes in next to him.

  
... He always sat really close.

  
The main character and the business man she's fallen for are walking together in a park, at sunset.

  
" Listen, Rika, I'm getting the promotion of a lifetime," he's saying. " I don't know if we should do this anymore."

  
" If you work so hard at it, it may as well just be your life!" Rika says, overly exasperated. " I mean, the dinner dates, the weird clown thing, those pigeons we stole... I thought you had finally realized that work isn't everything. I've been having the best time of my life since we started doing this together. And now you just want to go back to your job, like it never happened? Didn't you like feeling free?"

  
They're standing by the lake.

  
" It was just a distraction! I was just mad at my job because I felt powerless. But we can't keep pulling these silly pranks forever! We're not high schoolers anymore. I realized yesterday the only reason you like doing this stuff so much is because you're afraid of being a real grown woman."

  
Rika gasps.

  
" W-well, you-! The only reason you're saying all of this is because you're afraid of how you really feel! You're afraid of our relationship becoming real!"

  
He looks out over the lake.

  
" I... Yes. You're right. Rika, you're right. I was afraid... of loving you."

  
It's super dramatic, and even Amon thinks this bit is really over the top. Akira looks over to Ryo when the couple on screen kisses.

  
He's got a strange expression on his face.

  
No one else seems to notice.

  
" See? This stuff is really melodramatic," Akira says to him, low enough to not disturb the others much.

  
Ryo sort of slightly nods.

  
" ... It's nice, though, you know," he says.


End file.
